Covert Operation
by dogman15
Summary: The Animorphs have a free Saturday with no homework or Yeerks to worry about, so what do they do? They go to The Gardens! But this is no ordinary trip; only Marco is paying, and the others get in another way. Cassie's mom isn't helping them here...
1. The Plan

**Note: Like every other Animorphs fanfic writer on this site, I use ((this)) for thought-speak. Not even HTML code will work.**

"Marco! Did you remember the sunscreen?" Jake called from the other room. "I think that's the only thing we're missing."

"Yeah, I got it," I replied. "Let's head to Cassie's barn. I just hope Rachel will remember the snacks. Oh! Don't forget some cash."

"Right…" Jake said with a smug grin on his face.

I suppose I should tell you who I am. In case you hadn't already noticed, my name's Marco. I'm a member of the Animorphs.

Today was special, not only because it was Saturday, but because it was the first Saturday in the longest time that we had neither homework nor Yeerks to worry about. To celebrate, we all decided to go to The Gardens for the day. The Gardens is a theme park with rides and animals. It's kinda like a zoo, SeaWorld, and Six Flags thrown together. You should see it.

After parking out bikes outside Cassie's barn, we saw her walking out of her house. "Hey Cassie! How's it going? Where's Rachel?" Jake asked.

"I'm fine. Rachel's inside the barn," she replied.

"What about Ax and Tobias?" I asked.

"As you might expect, Tobias is already here. Last I checked, Ax is running late."

"When did you last check?" asked Jake. Just then, Rachel walked out of the barn.

"She was in here about five minutes ago," Rachel said, referring to Cassie. "As soon as Ax gets here, we can start discussing plans for the day."

"He should be here any minute," Cassie added. "Tobias said he'd be running a little late. Let's go into the barn and wait for him."

Inside the barn, a red-tailed hawk was sitting on a barrel. He was cleaning himself, but soon finished and looked up. ((If I could tell you more,)) I would, Tobias said. ((All I know is that Ax will be a little late.))

As if by cue, an osprey flew in through the other barn door. ((I am here,)) Ax said. ((When do we leave?))

"We leave as soon as we finish discussing a couple of things," Jake answered. As Ax demorphed, Jake continued. "First of all," he started, "We need to decide who will be the one to officially enter the park."

My hand shot up. "I volunteer!" I said.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Why so eager, Marco?" he asked.

"Um, two reasons," I said. "One: I can drive."

"Well, yeah, but so can we," Rachel pointed out, indicating herself, Cassie, and Jake.

"Second reason: I don't want to wait in a public restroom for half an hour."

"Fair enough," Jake said. "After all, someone has to come in the regular way."

((Could someone please inform me as to what the plan is?)) Ax asked. ((I seem to have forgotten the finer details.))

"Sure thing, Ax," said Cassie. "Basically, all six of us are going to The Gardens for the price of one. Everyone but Marco will fly into the park as a seagull, to five different restrooms at the edges of the park, and dimorph there. Marco will go around to each restroom delivering clothes and expanding his party."

((Party?)) questioned Ax.

((A group,)) Tobias clarified.

Jake continued. "We could all get in for free, but then we'd all have to walk around in leotards or gym shorts without shirts."

"Wait a second," I interrupted. "Couldn't Cassie's mom get us in? I thought she was working there this weekend."

"She could," Cassie said, "but she can only get us in for half price, if we're lucky. Our method lets us get in for one sixth the price. That's…" She was silent for a moment. "…saving eighty-three and one-third percent!" she concluded.

((Actually, Cassie, Ax and I can't chip in; we don't have any money. You'll each have to pay one-fourth , thus only saving 75 percent,)) Tobias said.

"Oh. Okay then," she sighed.

"Cassie, has the admission price changed?" Rachel asked.

"No, it's still 46 dollars. Which means we each chip in…" she thought for a second. "Eleven dollars and fifty cents."

Everyone reached into their pockets and pulled out their wallets. The next thing I knew, I had 34 dollars and 50 cents in my hands. "You know what to do, Marco," said Jake. "Finish the difference." I nodded. "Cassie, can you run into your house and get two bags? Oh! And your parents know where we're going, right?"

"Yes!" cried Cassie as she left the barn. "Except they think we're paying full price!" For some reason, I found this amusing, but I didn't really laugh out loud.

**Author's note:  
So, how did I do? This is just the first chapter; I still have at least four other chapters already written in my notebook that I need to copy to Microsoft Word and then into the document editor. Let me know where I can improve, and also please let me know if any of the characters seemed out-of-character. Predictions? Questions? Go ahead and review.**


	2. Traveling

**Now Marco arrives at the park. Why did K.A. Applegate call it "The Gardens"?**

Ten minutes later, we were all on our way to the park. I was in my blue Honda Civic, and everyone else was flying somewhere above me. I knew this because they felt the need to bother me with their thought-speak as I drove.

((Hey Marco! How's the view down there? I see you're stuck at a red light!)) Jake "yelled".

((You know, Jake, if I were Marco, I wouldn't want voices talking in my head while I was driving,)) said Cassie.

((Could I possibly learn this driving, like Marco is?)) asked Ax.

((Nah, man,)) answered Tobias. ((Too many hurdles to get through.))

((Hurdles?)) Ax asked.

((Obstacles,)) he clarified.

((Guys, quiet!)) Cassie "shouted". ((Marco's trying to merge onto the freeway!))

They finally stopped talking, and I could concentrate on driving in peace. For all I knew though, they were probably having private conversations above me.

When I got to The Gardens, I had lost track of my friends, who were now counting on me to deliver their clothes. Cassie and Rachel didn't want to walk around the park in leotards that looked like swimsuits, and Jake, Tobias, and Ax couldn't walk around without shirts on. I drove towards the ticket building at the parking lot, suddenly realizing that we had neglected to think about parking payment. _Those guys owe me 7.50_, I thought. Fortunately, I had the necessary ten dollars.

After parking and taking a tram to the park entrance, I arrived at the ticket booth. I dug out the cash everyone had contributed, added my 11.50, and walked up to the window. A Latino man with black hair and a goatee who appeared to be in his early 30s looked up as I approached. "One ticket, please," I said, handing him the money.

"Sure," he mumbled. Taking the money, he pushed a few buttons on his register and the drawer popped open. After a moment, he asked "You wanna receipt?" while handing me my ticket.

"No thanks," I replied.

"'K, bye," he said as I left.

Security was next. I wasn't worried, because I had nothing to hide. After all, I wasn't _really_ smuggling in guests, right? I lugged both of the bags I had been carrying onto the table. One of them had things like snacks and cash in it. The other one was stuffed chock full of everyone's clothes. The security person was a sweet old lady, most likely in her 60s, who probably couldn't have stopped anyone from breaking in if she had tried. First she looked in our snack bag.

"There aren't any straws in here, are there?"

"No ma'am," I replied.

"We can't have straws of any kind in the park because of the possibility of animals choking on them," she explained.

"Right," I said. _What animal would be stupid enough to eat a straw?_ I wondered.

"Let's see your second bag, there," she said. I lugged the clothes bag onto the table. _This is taking too long,_ I thought. _I can't keep everyone waiting!_ The woman's eyes widened a bit when she saw all the clothes.

"What's all this for?" she asked. I was ready with an answer.

"My friends are already in the park, and I'm going to meet them," I explained. "These are clothes for changing into after a water ride." In reality, though, I didn't think we were planning on doing a really wet ride, but I'd have to wait and see.

"All right, you can go." She dismissed me with a wave of her hand. "Have fun."

"Thank you." As I walked towards the entrance, I was feeling annoyed at how much time I perceived had been wasted. _That felt like it took five minutes!_ I thought. Really, though, it probably only lasted one or two minutes.

**A lot of my descriptions of the park were inspired by Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, in Vallejo, California. (Formerly known as "Six Flags Marine World" or "Marine World Africa USA") I honestly can't remember the details of how The Gardens was described in the series. I only own two books (#12 and #30) and I've not read about five of them. I also wish this site let you use the dollar sign.**


	3. Finding Jake

At last, I was finally inside the park. _The Gardens, prepare for the wits of the Animorphs!_ I grabbed a map from the information kiosk while avoiding staff photographers and quickly located the restrooms. As expected, they were where they had always been: three buildings within the middle of the park, and five buildings at the edges of the park. This was where my friends had flown to and were now waiting

Gathering my bearings, I determined that North was directly in front of me. As we had planned, Jake, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Ax were in each of the five restroom facilities west to east, in that order, so I took off towards the westernmost bathroom, to get Jake. After about ten seconds, the bags started to slow me down.

When I arrived at Jake's bathroom, I checked to see if anyone else was inside. "Jake!" I half-whispered. "You in here?"

"Yeah, man. You don't have to whisper," he replied.

"Did you have any trouble getting in?" I asked as I slid the clothes bag under the stall.

"Luckily, no, but just as soon as I finished demorphing, some guy tried opening my stall; probably 'cause my feet weren't on the ground."

"Oh, that's good. Hey, do you think someone saw you fly in?"

"I sure hope not, but now you're getting me concerned about the others." He opened the stall door and stepped out. "Let's get going. Who's next?" he asked.

"Uh, Rachel," I answered. As we left the bathroom, we passed a gruff man in his 40s. "Here, you wanna see the map?"

"Nah," Jake said. "You just lead the way."

**That's it for now; Rest assured, the next chapter will be longer. This is just to give you a feel for what's to come.**


	4. Finding Rachel and Cassie

**Keep in mind that this site doesn't let you use the dollar sign. There's supposed to be a dollar sign before the "7.50".**

"Uh oh," I said when we arrived at Rachel's restroom. "How are we going to get in?" I wondered. "You're the leader, Jake. What do we do?"

"Um, okay. You stand outside and call her, and she'll let us know if she's alone."

"Okay." I gave the snack bag to Jake as he handed me the clothes bag he had been carrying. Stepping up to the door, I called "Hey Rachel… are you okay?"

"Yeah, hurry up while no one's here," she snapped.

"Glad to hear you're doing fine," I remarked as I slid the bag across the floor to her stall. I then went back to wait with Jake, who was sitting on a bench. "She'll probably take longer than you did, Jake. You know how it is with girls and clothes." We both laughed at this.

When Rachel finally came out, I said "Gosh Rachel, why'd you have to keep Cassie waiting?" in a funny voice.

"Shut up, Marco. For your information, I had some trouble with the shirt I picked out."

"Ooh, 'some trouble'," Jake said as he nudged me.

"Quiet Jake," Rachel said. I could sense the conversation going downhill, so I quickly changed subjects.

"Come on, guys, let's start walking. Cassie's bathroom is this way," I said as I indicated northeast. "Oh – by the way, everyone owes me 7.50 for parking."

"Now's not the time, Marco. Wait 'till we get home," Jake told me.

"So Rachel," I began, "Did you have any trouble with the restroom?"

"Yes," she grumbled. "I flew in right when another woman was inside, and she ran out screaming. It was not pleasant, to say the least."

"Well, I'm glad no one took action," said Jake. "If they had thought you were an animal from The Gardens, they might have called in park staff, and you can imagine what would've happened then." Rachel and I murmured in agreement.

"I'm suddenly quite worried about Cassie, Tobias, and Ax," Rachel said. "They might be having more problems than I did. I'm running on ahead." And with that, she took off in a light jog. Jake and I looked at each other and started running after her.

When we got to Cassie's restroom, (all the way at the farthest northern end of the park,) Rachel ran inside. Jake and I waited on a bench like before. After two minutes, they still hadn't come out yet. I leaned to my right and asked Jake, "Any idea what's taking Cassie so long?"

"Well, she didn't get here as soon as Rachel and I did…" Jake must have noticed the questioning look on my face. "What, you thought we all left at the same time?"

"Yeah…" I hesitated.

"Well, you left slightly before we did. The five of us left five minutes apart. First me, then Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, and Ax. That way we'd all wait about the same amount of time in the bathroom."

"But – I heard your guys' thought-speak while I was driving! All of you!" I protested.

"Marco, don't play dumb. You know thought-speak isn't really affected by distance."

"Oh yeah, duh." I buried my forehead in my hand. Just then, Rachel and Cassie walked out of the bathroom, with Cassie holding the clothes bag.

"Rachel told me you guys might want to hear what happened to me," said Cassie. "Curious?"

"Please," Jake said as he spread his arms and shook his head. We stood up and I picked up the snack bag.

"Well," Cassie started, "When I first flew in, someone must have seen me, because I heard someone outside shout. The restroom was empty, but when I started demorphing, two people came in. As expected, it turned out to be the woman who saw me and a female staff animal handler. The staff lady said, in a Russian accent, 'You say you saw a seagull fly in here?' and the woman replied 'Yes.' 'Leave it to me,' staff-lady said. So while the guest stands off to the side, staff-lady's all, like, 'Where are you, you stooped bird?' Naturally, I was really scared by this point, but luck was with me. My two human feet – albeit bare – were on the ground, and the rest of my body followed. I took a hold of the situation and spoke up. 'I didn't see any bird fly in here,' I said."

"Hang on, Cassie, we're at Tobias's restroom," Jake interrupted.

"So they left and Rachel came." Cassie finished.

"Here, Cassie, I'll trade you bags," I said as I held out the snack bag I was carrying.

"Thanks, Marco," she said, giving me the clothes bag. Cassie and Rachel went to sit down at a bench, and Jake and I headed towards the bathroom.

**Please let me know if I made any grammatical mistakes.**


	5. Finding Tobias

**Sorry for the long wait, but I've had a lot of school issues lately that have kept me from copying the (already written) text to my computer.**

"I'm starting to get hungry," I casually told Jake.

"We'll get lunch after picking up Ax," he said.

"Ooh, that'll be _loads_ of fun," I remarked.

"Oh yes," Jake agreed. See, the thing with Ax is that he doesn't get to taste food a lot. When he's an Andalite, he doesn't have a mouth, so he can't taste things. As a human, though, his taste buds go crazy.

We entered the restroom, which – thankfully – was empty. "Hey Tobias, you okay?" I asked.

"Dudes! What took you so long?" he exclaimed from inside his stall. "It feels as if I've been waiting here, like, forever!"

"Well if that's the case," began Jake, "you should probably dimorph to hawk and then back to human."

"Gotcha," he said. "Say, what time is it? You guys have my watch in the clothes bag, right?"

"The one you only use as a human that we hold onto for you? Yeah, we do," Jake told him.

"Whalk heim zz…" Tobias began, but he was quickly losing his human mouth. Instead, he continued in thought-speak. ((What time is it?)) he asked.

"10:45," I told him. "I'll set my alarm for 12:35 to remind us of your time limit," I said as I pushed buttons on my watch. "Jake will do the same for Ax."

"What, set my alarm?" he asked.

"Yeah, but wait 'till we're all done with Ax, 'K?"

"Right, fine. Say Tobias, did you have any trouble getting in here? Cassie almost got caught by a staff person."

((Well, as I approached this building, someone was walking out of it, so I circled for about a minute before diving inside. I landed on the floor and walked under the stall door, demorphed to hawk, and morphed to human. So, no… I guess I didn't have trouble.))

"I only hope that Ax was as lucky as you were, Tobias," was all Jake said. Suddenly, the stall door opened and Tobias – as a human – walked out.

"What the… Tobias, you were just talking to us in though-speak!" I exclaimed. I thought you were still a hawk!" Jake looked slightly less surprised than I.

"You forget, Marco, that I can use thought-speak as a human as well as a hawk, since technically, I'm in a morph." ((See? Like this,)) he added for effect.

"Whatever, dude. Let's go, Ax is waiting," I said.

"So are Cassie and Rachel," added Jake.

* * *

**I honestly don't care if this is the least-popular story in the _Animorphs_ category. I'm just putting this story here so that it's _somewhere_. Any questions about this chapter?**


	6. Liberating Ax

**Look, I'm sorry that the update took so long, but I've really been busy with offline work. However, I justify my delay by saying this: I am friends with a certain artist/author on deviantART who has written an original 34 chapter story, and it isn't even done yet. He hasn't written chapter 35 (or at least finished and uploaded it) in almost a year. (Does the name "wannabemustangjockey" ring a bell?)**

"What took you so long?" Rachel asked. She sounded exasperated.

Jake answered his cousin. "To maximize his time as a human, Tobias re-morphed," he sated.

"Oh, okay. But whatever – let's get Ax and be done with this so we can have some fun!" Now she sounded excited.

"The last bathroom – Ax's bathroom – is that way," Cassie said as she pointed southeast. _She probably has an entire map of the park memorized,_ I thought. _After all, her mom does work here._

On our way to Ax's restroom, I decided I couldn't ignore my hunger any longer. Luckily, I was the one holding the snack bag at the time, so I reached in and grabbed a Clif Bar.

Jake must have seen me. "Marco!" he yelled. "Can't you wait 'till lunch? It will only take us another five to ten minutes."

"Look, Jake, I can eat whenever I want. Don't act like my dad…" I suddenly remembered my home life and how my mom had "died", leaving my dad depressed all the time. "…used to," I finished.

As I slowly brought the Clif Bar to my mouth to nibble at it, Cassie said "Let it go, Jake. It's not like you bought everything in that bag."

"We're here," announced Rachel.

The last restroom on our trip was the most interesting yet. It hardly looked traditional, since at first glance you wouldn't think of it as a restroom. It looked more like a grass shack to me. You could barely even read the "restrooms" sign outside. _I wouldn't be surprised if Ax isn't here, because this bathroom's hard to spot,_ I thought.

"Tobias, why don't you go in with Marco? You're closer to Ax anyway," Jake said. _Yeah, he's Ax's nephew,_ I thought to myself as Jake and I traded bags.

"I bet it's just so he can spend time with the girls," I whispered to Tobias as we walked away. Tobias just snickered.

"Hey Ax-man! You here? Howzit going?" Tobias called.

"From the handicapped stall, Ax answered. "I am here. I am fine. Ine. Nnn…"

"Dude," I said with a laugh, "have you been playing with your words since you morphed human?"

There was a pause. "Yes."

"No offense, dude, but anyone who's been in here probably thought you were mentally retarded.

"Ax, are you naked?" asked Tobias. "Wait, don't answer that. Here," he said, taking the clothes bag from me and sliding it under the door. "Yours are the only ones left. Rachel picked them out for you. But I would recommend demorphing first like I did," he finished.

As he was doing this, we asked him the standard questions. Tobias was first. "So, did you have any trouble getting in here?"

"There were no humans, heeyoomanz, who were…" Ax had to finish his sentence in thought speak. ((…startled by my presence,)) he said.

"Hey Ax," Tobias spoke quietly. "Make sure you're only talking to us. I don't want other people hearing voices in their head."

((Okay.))

"What about finding this place?" I asked. "Did you have any trouble locating this building?"

((No. I knew the general direction in which to go, and after that I followed the smell.))

"Oh. Well, there you go," I said with a laugh, waving my hand around briefly.

"I'm almost done," came Ax's voice. Various unsettling bone-shifting sounds could be heard coming from the stall, and then it was silent.

The door opened, and Ax walked out, dressed. "Let's go now," he said. "Nnn, oww. Now."

"We started walking out. "Ax," Tobias laughed, "You feel free to play with your mouth as much as you want today. You'll fit in with the other weirdoes at this park."

**So! That's it. That's all I have written in my journal. Any suggestions for how this story should continue and/or conclude? Any and all ideas will be considered and are welcome. (The first 19 words of chapter seven _have_ been written...)**


	7. Lunchtime

**Hi, readers. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter here, but then again, I'm just uploading this so that I have somewhere to put it - you know, get it out there. I'd be fine if no one read this, but the fact that I do have a few followers is just the kind of Christmas cheer I need; Thanks.**

"All right! The gang's all here. Now we can get started," Jake said happily.

"I'm still hungry," I said.

"Marco, just chill. We're all gonna get food in just a moment."

"Do they have brown globules here?" asked Ax.

"Raisinets? I doubt it," replied Rachel, "but the Riverside Pavilion Foodway might have cinnamon buns."

"For breakfast," Cassie added.

"Hmm?"

"The Cinnabon joint only operates in the mornings and evenings. This park serves breakfast until 11 am."

"And now it's 11:10," I confirmed. "No Cinnabon for you, Ax. I'm sure we can find some other food for you to go crazy on."

A few minutes later, the six of us were seated at a table with an umbrella in it. Ax was salivating over a plate of fries while we all ate our (overpriced) lunches. I had a burger with fries. Jake was eating a bucket of fried chicken. Cassie had bought a salad, and Rachel was enjoying her mini-pizza. Tobias, for the first time in who knows how long, was eating fried – in other words, cooked – fish from some seafood joint with a crazy-looking captain as its mascot.

"What ride do you guys want to go on first?" Jake asked.

"Medusa," replied Rachel. "I can take that coaster easily without puking."

"I want to do the 3D Dinosphere ride," said Tobias.

"Why don't we see an animal exhibit?" suggested Cassie.

"Nuh-uh," I interrupted. She frowned. "Cassie, the whole reason we're here is to go on rides. All the other times we've come here – it was to acquire new animal DNA. Let's do something different _*cough*fun*cough*_ for a change. Ax-man, you wanna do Monsoon Falls with me?"

Ax nodded; his mouth was still full of fries, and the plate was nearly empty.

Tobias swallowed his fish and wondered "Can you get zits from those fries after you demorph, Ax? 'Cuz your consumption would make any teen break out."

Ax put more fries in his mouth and shrugged – a human gesture he'd picked up from us. I doubted he even knew what "zits" or "breakout" meant.

"Let's put it to a vote," Jake decided. "All in favor of walking through the park and going on the first ride we come to, say 'aye'."

"Aye!" said everyone but Jake, Ax, and Cassie.

"Ax?" asked Jake. "What do you think?"

Ax looked up with a clueless, blissful expression and reluctantly swallowed. "I'll follow you, Prince Jake."

Jake scoffed with disapproval. "Cassie? What about you?"

"I think you already know my vote, Jake."

"Do you not like rides?" he asked.

"I don't _not_ like rides."

"Then why not join us?" asked Rachel.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," Tobias added.

We had all finished our lunches by this point, including Ax. We all got up, threw our trash away, and started walking south. (The Riverside Pavilion Foodway was at the northernmost end of the park.) Cassie begrudgingly followed.

**So... Now what?**


	8. Dinosphere

**Hi, everyone. I'm sorry this update took so long. I've been really busy with school and stuff, and whenever I was online or, more importantly, at my computer, I just never found the time to type more. The bad news is that I lost my Nintendo DS a few weeks ago (did I mention this?) and as such I can't read other people's fan fictions at anytime I want with the Nintendo DS Browser. That has really been hard on me, as there are quite a few stories in which I have invested my interest. It pains me not to be able to finish them easily. Finish this (short) chapter for the good news.**

We walked southeast from the Lakeside Pavilion Foodway towards the 3D theater. It was hidden among various trees, like Redwoods, to give it a "prehistoric" feel, I suppose. That's because this theater was showing, and had been showing for a year now, a 3D motion-ride film called "Dinosphere". The queue line was not your typical waiting experience at the movies. There was a little island thing the sidewalk went counter-clockwise around where two anamatronic dinosaurs (I think they were supposed to be Velociraptors, but I'm not sure) appeared to fight each other, but they didn't actually move. They just kind of moved their necks, arms, and tails around as roaring sounds came out of a speaker disguised as a rock. On the right side of the sidewalk, we were flanked by tall wooden spikes made to look like the wall of a fortress. After rounding the corner, there was a robot Tyrannosaurus Rex above a large bite mark in the wooden wall. Every now and then it roared.

After walking inside and being given our cheap, flimsy 3D glasses (ours were yellow, indicating we got the 5th and top row), we waited in a second room with stairs going down to five doors on each level. These doors led into the actual theater, and you could hear the loud bass thumps coming from the current show through the wall. I noticed at this point that the glasses we had couldn't fold, and thus deduced they were meant to be stacked up on top of each other when one was finished with them. People on the other levels below us had other colors of glasses, like white, red, or black.

I turned my attention to the television sets above each door. At the moment, all five were showing a short black and white video clip on a loop of two stop-motion dinosaur models (probably made in the 30s) fighting each other. The T-Rex fought the Triceratops until the Triceratops fell off of a cliff and the whole eight second clip repeated. This went on for about two minutes, and I was very bored. I turned to Tobias for attention.

"Hey, remember when we went back in time and saw those dinosaurs?" I asked.

"Yeah, man. This is nothing like that was," he replied, referring to the video.

"Well, that was filmed a long time ago. They didn't have _Jurassic Park_ to reference."

"We saw it firsthand," was his response.

"But we have no proof," I retorted, citing the fact that we could no longer access the dino DNA.

Presently, the video image changed. It was now some sort of news broadcast (fake, of course) where the reporter looked like she was on location at Dino Island. From what I gathered, the scientists were trying to capture a T-Rex that had escaped or something. The story was that we were going to get a helicopter tour ride to see things up close. Knowing, however, that the title of this 3D film was _Escape from Dino Island_, I predicted something bad was going to happen. _Oh well,_ I thought, _even if the plot is lackluster, the motion will be cool._

The briefing video ended, and the doors automatically opened. Jake quickly directed us to take seats in the middle. The chairs on each row were arranged in pairs, and from underneath each machine, there was a not-so-soft buzzing or hissing noise – the pneumatic air pumps that moved the seats. Jake and I sat in the dead center, Cassie and Rachel sat in the seats next to us, and Tobias and Ax took the seats to our right. We buckled up, and I was slightly surprised to find that I could not unbuckle after that. _What happens if someone gets scared and demands to be let off?_ I wondered. _Do they have to stop the ride just for that one person?_ The technician in the control booth asked us to make sure we were buckled in. Speaking through the main speakers behind the screen, he also told us to put our belongings on the floor (which we had done) and to enjoy the show. The lights dimmed and the two projectors behind us fired up.

I don't remember the details of the ride's plot, but it had something to do with the T-Rex escaping (as predicted) and us being in the way of danger. We were rescued and the T-Rex was taken away in a big net. Oh, there was lava too. Come to think of it, we might have been in a Jeep. I wasn't really paying attention during the ride.

When the ride was over, the chairs slowly lowered down and we exited to the theater's left. Everyone dropped their glasses into a medium-sized receptacle. _So much for stacking them,_ I thought.

"What's next?" I asked Jake.

"I say we go to the nearest roller coaster," he said. "Tobias? What's the nearest one?"

Tobias got out the map, looked at it, and reported "It's that way!" pointing south.

"Oh, that one!" he confirmed, glancing at the green and purple floorless coaster a half-mile away. "Okay, everyone – Medusa's next!"

**The good news is that I have officially outlined the rest of this story's plot, and I know how it will end now. (Don't worry, there is _some_ conflict, and it has a decent ending.) It's just a matter of turning bullet points in my journal into prose. Anyone want to guess where I'm getting most of my inspiration for this version of The Gardens?**


	9. Medusa

**Not much to say here, except to enjoy this chapter - the longest one yet!**

On our way to the Medusa roller coaster, we passed a little kid's coaster to our right. It had a simple layout, and it didn't go very high. Ahead was the entrance to Medusa. "It doesn't seem to be very crowded," remarked Rachel. "Maybe that's because everyone's eating lunch right now."

The queue line was a very short wait. When we got to the loading platform, there were only a few other people. The train itself was very open; there were eight rows with four seats in each, and the middle two seats of rows four and five were a bit larger and had two buckles for "larger guests". Rachel and I sat in front, Jake and Tobias sat in the back, and Cassie and Ax sat in row four. Coincidently, a fat couple did sit in row five. As we sat down (Rachel on my right), I noticed the man sitting in the row behind us. I attempted to subtly turn around to get a better look at him. To my surprise, it was the same man in his 40s that Jake and I had passed on our way out of the restroom. My eyes widened. He noticed me and smiled. "Hey! I know you!"

"Uh…" was all I could muster.

"It's okay," he reassured me. "I was just in a bad mood earlier."

"Um, nice to meet you," I sputtered.

I slowly turned back around. "Who was that?" Rachel asked.

"Someone Jake and I bumped into on our way out of the restroom."

"Oh," was her reply.

We now had a full car – or train, or whatever you want to call it. A crew member made sure all of our harnesses were fastened, and gave the operator the all-clear signal. The metal riveted floor at our feet separated into two parts and receded into the area below the train. Beneath that was a net – no doubts as to its function. At the same time the gate in front of Rachel and I opened up, and we were off. During the full 180° turn to the left, however, my watch beeped. It was 12:35! "Rachel!" I cried as we started the lift hill, "Ax and Tobias only have ten minutes left!"

"Not to worry," she assured. "We'll have plenty of time."

"I sure hope so," I replied.

The chain lift system took us up 150 feet into the air. Almost 4,000 feet of track lay ahead of us, and I knew we were in for a good time. The top of the hill was probably the worst part of the whole ride, though. For those brief moments, I knew what was coming (the drop), and while I knew it would be completely safe, there was still a feeling of foreboding.

We started our descent at 65 miles per hour, and I gleefully yelled my lungs out. Rachel had apparently put herself up to a challenge – she was sitting completely neutral, no screaming, facial contortions, or expression. I knew she was still having fun inside though. Behind me, I could hear screaming – one of those screams was probably Cassie.

Right after the first drop came a giant vertical loop. There was a dive loop to the left and a zero-G roll, and then we entered what was called a "Sea Serpent roll". Then we came to the mid-course trim brakes. Suddenly, we came to a jarring stop, which caught all 32 of us by surprise. Rachel broke her face for this operational anomaly.

"What's going on? Why did the ride stop?" she cried. Others on the train voiced their similar concerns.

"I want my money back!"

"Is this supposed to happen?"

"Now all we need is a news crew"

"Some'un git the mechanic up here!"

It then occurred to me that Ax and Tobias were in serious danger now. There was no telling how long we might be up here. I looked at my watch. It said 12:37 – no! – 12:38! It had just changed. For a brief moment I wondered if the six of us should all morph to escape the train, and then I realized how stupid that would be with everyone watching. We couldn't even talk to each other to discuss a solution when we were in different rows.

While everyone on the train was still voicing their displeasure, I heard a clanking sound to my left. A man was coming up the ladder! He was wearing overalls, a park t-shirt, and a baseball cap with the LA Angels team logo on it. He had a grey mustache and carried a toolbox. When they noticed him, everyone stopped talking.

"Hello, folks," he said. "Sorry for the trouble, but this doesn't usually happen. I'll just be a minute," and he proceeded to a little control box behind us that I couldn't see. _We might not have a minute_, I thought. The man continued: "These trim brakes here aren't supposed to entirely stop the train; they're just supposed to adjust the train's speed before continuing – Ah, there we go! Okay, y'all ready to continue?"

"Yes!" was the overwhelming reply.

"Allright, here you go!" He pressed a button, and we took off at the same speed we would have been going if we hadn't have stopped. I just realized how lucky we were that that didn't take as long as it could have.

"That man was so nice," commented the woman behind us. Well, yes he was, but I was disappointed that we didn't get to experience walking off the ride – that would have been fun.

Rachel resumed her stone face, and my excitement took over as I was enveloped in the fun of riding. The section of track after the trim brakes consisted of a twisting left-hand drop into a flatspin under the brake run. Then the on-ride photo was taken – Rachel still stone-faced – and we traveled through an inclined helix to the left before diving into the second Flatspin. There was a banked helix, a quick S-turn, and the final brake run. 100 yards later, we pulled into the station. Everyone waiting clapped (although I don't know why) and the metal floor came back up. I glanced at my watch again – 12:40. We were running out of time! Ax and Tobias had to get to a bathroom _now_!

We ran down the stairs to ground level and stopped for a brief glance at the photo counter before everyone else got there. Jake located our car on the monitors.

"There! Number 3405!" he shouted. My eyes quickly followed his outstretched hand to the screen. Rachel and I were in front. I was elated, she was bored, and the two people on her right (the screen's left) were having fun. Cassie had a look of pure terror on her face, but at least Ax looked like he was having fun. Tobias had his arms in the air, and Jake's eyes were closed. He looked like he was grimacing – neither smiling nor screaming. Other people were now starting to enjoy their photos, and the 40 year old man was buying his fiancée (I assume) a wallet photo.

After only twenty seconds of looking, Jake snapped into action. "All right guys, hurry!" he said urgently. "We need to find a bathroom!" My watch read 12:41:35. Could we make it in time?

**And _that_ is my first offical cliffhanger. I think there's going to be about two more chapters - maximum three - left.**


	10. Animals

**Author's note: You have no idea how hard it is to find time to type this stuff. That's all; now read.**

Tobias and Ax ran off in the direction of a bathroom, and we pursued them. Luckily, they arrived in time to demorph… barely. Everyone waited outside except me, and I went into the bathroom with them to stand guard. Tobias and Ax walked into two stalls; Tobias into a regular-sized one, and Ax into the handicapped stall. "Don't forget to undress first, Ax," said Tobias. "If you need help, just let me know." As they were doing this, I set my watch's alarm for a new time: 2:30 (even though they now had until 2:45). I told Ax this. "Ax, I'm setting my alarm for 2:30, okay?"

"I can keep time too, you know," he said once he had finished remorphing.

When we left the bathroom, Jake called for a quick meeting. He turned to Cassie first. "Cassie, if you want, we can go check out the animal area of the park."

"That would be nice, Jake. Thanks."

"Why not start at the jungle area?" I suggested.

We made our way to the "rainforest" building and walked through the automatic double doors. The next thing I knew, we were in a big enclosed exhibit area. There was a very big glass dome over many different habitats. We were walking along at a slight downhill angle on a winding pathway between leopards, tortoises, Komodo dragons, and more creatures. Presently, we came to the crocodile pit. That reminded me…

"Hey Rachel! Remember when you fell into that pit and got sick?"

"Don't remind me. I kept morphing involuntarily and had to eventually undergo the gross _hereth illinit_. But you have to remember it was all because I was trying to save that Tyler kid from falling in."

"Ah, right. Of course, Xena." Rachel shot me a glare.

"Don't forget what happened as a result of that!" Cassie pitched in. "We got to go on the Barry and Cindy Sue show and meet Jeremy Jason McCole!"

"So dreamy…" murmured Rachel.

"He's in Uzbekistan now," Jake interrupted. "Just forget about the whole thing."

There wasn't really much to see in that hall, so we emerged on the other side. It was getting close to 12:50 when Cassie shouted "Hey! The Elephant rides – we can do that!"

There was a $2.00 fee, but we all ponied up to get saddled up – except that they weren't really saddles – just a carpet and a metal cage on the elephants' backs.

At 1:20 pm, we walked to the Lorikeet Aviary. For 10¢ each, we purchased little paper cups with liquid bird feed in them. One of the lorikeets landed on my hand and started sipping out of the cup. Out of curiosity, I acquired its DNA.

At 1:30, we passed the lions. Even though they were just sleeping on the rocks behind a tall fence, a trainer was talking about them. His little cart had a sun umbrella over it and various types of cat skulls on it. We stopped to listen for a while.

Sooner than I knew it, five minutes had passed. Jake motioned for us to follow him, saying "C'mon, there's other things we need to get to." He led us onward in the direction we had been walking; It was then that I noticed Cassie looked a bit worried, but I didn't press her about it.

When we rounded the bend in the pathway, I saw the Animal Nursery. _So _that's_ why Cassie didn't want to be over here – we might see her mom!_ And see her mom we did. Mrs. Logan (Oops! Did I just say that?), the head veterinarian, was working in one of the windows on a little lemur baby. Ax went up to the window and caught her attention. Mrs. Lo- I mean, Cassie's mom looked up and smiled at us, but she was obviously preoccupied with the vaccination and couldn't divert her attention to us. Besides, she was in a sealed off room away from where guests could go. We entered the building anyway through a single door a few feet away. _Aah! _I sighed. _Air conditioning!_ We spent about twenty-five glorious minutes in that great place, looking at all of the young or sick animals, but then it was time to keep moving. "Aw, I wanted to say hi to your mom, Cassie," said Tobias.

"Believe me, I'm glad you didn't," she said with her hand over her eye.

The time was now 2:25, and the Giraffe Dock was straight ahead. We spent 15 minutes there, and listened while a park staff member gave a talk about giraffes' diets. We spent a dollar altogether on a bucket of fruit to feed the giraffes. The three of them came over to the dock and licked at the food with their long tongues. The fourth one chose instead to wander over to a hanging block of ice with other food frozen inside of it. I almost laughed – it was a giraffe popsicle hanging on the corner of the dock!

While we were engaging the giraffes in activities of mass consumption, Tobias was off to the side looking at the show schedule. "Hey guys!" he called to us when we had finished. "There's a bird show at 3:00. Let's do that next!" He paused for a moment, keeping us from replying with his silence. "Oh crap!" he shouted. "Ax and I have to get to a bathroom."

"I was just about to say the same thing myself," retorted Ax. "I suggest we hurry."

The bad news was that there wasn't a nearby bathroom. We had to run about a fourth of a mile south to get to one, and when we arrived, Ax and Tobias hurried in to do their thing... which in this case doesn't mean what "their thing" usually means.

To pass the time during our second peaceful period that day, I got up from the bench and walked around to the Kids Zone behind us. There was only one ride, a flying elephants-type ride with more animals than just elephants. Most of the area was just a wooden playground with lots of places to climb. I wished I could relive my childhood and go on there too, but before I knew it, Jake was calling me to rejoin the group. "C'mon, Marco!" he yelled. "The Bird Show's starting soon!"

We walked to the Bird Theater, which didn't take long, and waited for about 15 minutes while 60s music played. The only thing was that it wasn't just 60s music. Apparently, the guy in the sound booth at the top of the amphitheater was putting on 70s, 80s, 90s, and current music, too. _Trying to please everyone_, I thought. _Well, it's working._

The bird show was cool, but my favorite part was when an owl made its entrance from the top of the seats (behind us) and glided down to the stage – that was cool and unexpected. Halfway through the show, Cassie was looking at the show schedule. She turned to Jake (who was to my right) and whispered "Jake, there's a Wildlife Show at 3:30. Can we see that next?"

"We'll have to run to catch the beginning," he replied, "but sure."

The Wildlife Show would have been way more boring than the Bird Show, if it weren't for one little mishap – one of the audience members, a teenage girl, was selected to come down to give a cheetah a command. At one point, the cheetah snarled (I don't think he was mad) and the girl was so surprised she backed up and fell into the little fish pond (no fishes) on the stage.

By this point, my legs were starting to feel stiff, and my feet ached. When the show ended, I voiced my concern on this and the fact that we hadn't done a ride in hours.

"Well, you're in luck Marco, because there just so happens to be some foot jigglers right here."

"Yes!" I cried. The others looked happy too. If you don't know what "foot jigglers" are, as I like to call them, you haven't been to a big park where there's lots of walking involved. Basically, they're metal mechanical seats you sit down in (sometimes they look like a barrel). You place your feet on a detached metal plate that can move around very rapidly. You stick 25¢ in and it vibrates your feet for one minute; it feels _really_ good.

We each got out a quarter (and Jake gave Ax one of his) and sat down on the seats. It must have been our lucky day because there were exactly six seats – usually there were only two or three of these things in one area. Now as for Ax, he had never ever used one of these. As I expected, he vocalized the entire time his feet were being vibrated. Passers-by gave him weird looks as he continuously chanted "Aaaaah-aaaah-aah-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…"

Our feet felt quite tingly for minutes afterwards.

**Aaand... cut. That's a wrap. The next chapter will be out whenever - it should be the last one. (Maybe someday I'll combine certain chapters together to make a smaller quantity of chapters have more quantity of text.) Good night.**


	11. Late Afternoon

**Last chapter!**

All too soon, the foot jigglers shut themselves off. Some of us sighed with contentment, others, including myself, groaned with disappointment. "All right, what's next?" I asked.

"Hmm," pondered Jake. "Ax? You haven't decided anything for us yet today. Where do you want to go next? We have about an hour left until we have to leave at five." I started to speak, but Jake quickly cut me off: "And yes- I _know_ the park doesn't close until nine, Marco. We have to get home early."

"That's not what I was going to say," I flatly drolled. **(A/N: I know this isn't a word, nor is it used correctly, but it sounds right and you know the context.)** "I was going to ask Ax if he wanted to see the map," I said as I handed him my map from the bag I was carrying.

"Thank you Marco," smiled Ax. He opened up the map and studied it for a few seconds. Suddenly his eyes widened and he pointed to a spot towards the top. "The Shark Experience! We should go there! Goodness, this park has everything!"

For a moment, I wondered why Ax was speaking so oddly (for himself) but I dismissed it as an effect of his excitement. Ax handed me the map back and I put it into my bag again. As we walked northwest towards the Shark Experience, I briefly wondered why he had such an apparently-sudden interest in sharks, and then I thought _Of course! His underwater battle morph is a Hammerhead shark!_ Speaking of which, we were just passing by a large thrill ride called the "Hammerhead Shark". It was a Zamperla ride that consisted of two giant arms, designed on the outside to look like Hammerhead shark bodies, which spun around in opposite directions before swapping and completing seven revolutions.

It was a short walk to the Shark Experience building. When we got there, we crossed a mini-train crossing (the train was not present), and made a short left into the building. There were long, black plastic flaps we had to walk through, and I'm pretty sure they were intended to keep the light out. With good reason: Immediately after entering, our clothes were bombarded with black light (and my socks looked purple!).

Ax led the way, followed by Cassie, myself, Rachel and Tobias, and Jake. When Ax entered the next section of the building, I could swear his jaw dropped. We were in a long tunnel with a curved glass ceiling, and we were being moved along by a moving sidewalk that included handrails. Above us, sharks and colorful fish of all kinds swam back and forth; it was stunningly beautiful. The next room was an extension of the aquarium from before: there was a large window to our left where we could see more of the open water. To the right was a solid wall, but it was unique in that it had life-size silhouettes of different kinds of sharks on it. I can't really say there was a "next room" because the whole "guest" area of the inside was all one room with no doors. Nonetheless, the next area showed progressively larger shark jaws (bones), ending with the jaws of a Great White Shark. The smallest jaws were no larger than my hand. The last open area had an interactive map that showed different places all over the Earth where different types of sharks lived. There was also a cylindrical aquarium with small fish in the center of the room.

Suddenly I noticed that Tobias was no longer with us. "Hey Jake, where's Tobias?" I asked him. He looked unsure for a moment, but then as if in an answer to my question, Rachel ran back inside at the exit, which was a large open doorway. "Guys! Did you know they have a photo shoot here? It's only 10 dollars!"

"I dunno Tobias, we're kinda strapped for cash…" said Jake. "Maybe if everyone pitches in, we could."

We walked outside to where there was a sort of raised pool with various crabs and lethargic fish lying about. As luck would have it, we had barely enough money among us. "This has to be the last thing we do today," said Cassie.

"…That costs money," I added.

"Well, yeah," was her reply.

On our way to the photo shack, I slipped out of the group (I was behind everyone) and snuck into a little room on the outside of the building called "The Blue Cove". It was separated from the outdoor light by long black flaps similar to the kind we passed through at the main entrance. Inside was a small (about 10 square feet) area with a circular glass wall. Beyond the thick wall, I could see many different types of colorful fish, including Regal Blue Tangs and Yellow Tangs, and a lot of other fish I couldn't name. Then I noticed in the distance there were people moving along slowly. I suddenly realized that I was seeing the underwater tunnel from before, and it occurred to me that this little area was for the smaller fish to get away from the sharks. Before I could think about that more, Jake called out "MARCO!"

I ran outside and answered "POLO!" Jake didn't look happy.

"Where were you?"

"That little aquarium over there," I said pointing.

"Well you're off the hook because Rachel wandered into the gift shop. Cassie just fished her out." He paused, then added, "No pun intended."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she gets stuck in the main gift shop near the park exit when we leave."

"Hmm."

Tobias was already over at the photo shack, and he had apparently purchased our spot. "Come _on_ guys! I still want to ride another ride before five and we only have half an hour left." He gestured for us to join him. Ax had been peering into the outdoor pool at some starfish, but he came when Tobias called. "We're next," Tobias informed us. "Actually, we're on now,  
he said as the previous group, a family of four, left. Suddenly Rachel tapped me on the shoulder.

"Marco! Look at this cute little keychain I bought. It has my name on it!" Indeed it did. The keychain was designed with a picture of a three-dimensionalized shark swimming in the ocean. Beneath it were printed the letters R A C H E L in red.

"Yes Rachel, cute indeed," I said while mentally rolling my eyes.

The photo shoot was actually rather elaborate. The scene was set up to look like a boat with a sea lion and a great white shark jumping out of the water over the boat. You could climb up on top of the sea lion, inside the shark's mouth, or in the boat, and the boat even included a red and white-striped rope if you wanted to use it on someone inside the shark. Cassie took that job. She and Rachel walked around back, and Rachel climbed up the stairs to get on top of the sea lion. Jake sat in the closest to the shark, took hold of the rope, and gave it to Cassie. Ax clambered into the back of the boat, which was slightly raised, and Tobias stood up and made it look like he was steadying himself. I stood at the front of the boat with one leg on the edge, to appear as if I was commandeering us to safety. I tried my best to look like a ship captain boldly leading his crew in the face of disaster. The photo guys took our picture, and after about two minutes, they were ready.

The ten dollars included six wallet size copies of our picture. Rachel was smiling on top of the sea lion to make it seem as if she was having fun flying through the air on it. Cassie had a terrified look on her face as Jake pulled her out of the shark mouth with the rope. Ax huddled in the back of the boat, looking distraught. I wasn't sure if he was acting or if he really felt like that, but I hoped it was the former. As expected, I looked awesome standing up at the front of the little boat, looking heroic. (Wait, I just said that I looked two different things, didn't I? Oh well. Who cares if they're both true?)

Jake got out his pocketknife and used the scissors attachment to cut the sheet into six separate parts. As he did this, he started another impromptu group meeting.

"All right," he began, "We've been a lot of different places today; Let's recap. Tobias got to go on Dinosphere, Rachel got her Medusa, Cassie got to do all sorts of Animal stuff, and Ax got to Shark Experience like he wanted." He handed us our photos. "That leaves just you and I, Marco. What was it you said you wanted to do?"

"Well, earlier I asked Ax if he wanted to go on Monsoon Falls with me, but it's too cold to get wet now," I said. "You know, there's a wooden roller coaster nearby. We could wait in line for that, ride it, and be done in time for us to leave."

"I don't see why not," Jake said. "And since I like that idea, I'll adopt it as my own and forfeit my choice for today. You can lead the way Marco."

"Thanks."

As we walked, I got out our map again. Looking at it, I was reminded of the name of the wooden roller coaster, which was Clank River, an odd name since there was no water at all on the ride. The wait in line was considerably longer than our wait for Medusa, because it wasn't lunchtime, and people ate their park dinner at varyingly different times. By the time we climbed into the little cars (which only had lap belts and restraints that came over our waists) it was already 4:45. It was your typical wooden roller coaster, and there wouldn't have been anything to report – if it weren't for the water misters at the very end of the ride. _Such a weird name_, I thought, _and there's hardly any water at all!_

We walked off the ride, but there weren't any photos to look at. I took a look around the group and noticed that everyone, including myself, was looking exhausted. Jake noticed this too. "Guys, I think it's time we left," he said. "Let's all head back to the exit."

He turned to Rachel and said, "That just goes to show you we don't have to be in danger kicking Yeerk butt to have fun, right Rachel?"

"Yeah," she replied, "I guess I did have fun today. We only did a few rides and some animal stuff, but it was a refreshing break."

"Well I'm glad you liked it."

To my surprise, Rachel didn't even go into the gift shop at the exit, though she did glance at it. "It's just T-Shirts and candy anyway," she said. "I don't need any of that. Besides, they purposefully put it at the exit to the park to lure in visitors as they're leaving."

I smiled. Perhaps Rachel was maturing a bit – but only time would tell.

We took the tram to the parking lot, and it was more crowded than it was when I had ridden it that morning. The walk from the tram drop-off to my Civic was even harder, it seemed, than any other walking we had done that day. Cassie piped up with an important question. "How are we going to get home? Marco's car only has room for five!"

"I have an idea," said Tobias. "Just let me hide behind Marco's car and I'll fly home."

"Thanks for volunteering, Tobias," said Jake. We stood around the small space between my car and the black Chevy Tahoe to its right, blocking the entrances while Tobias demorphed.

((Thanks guys!)) He said. ((I'll catch you tomorrow. Say, we should do this again sometime!))

"Bye Tobias!" We all called. Then we piled into my car. I drove, of course, and Jake sat in the passenger seat. Cassie sat behind him and Ax sat to her left. Rachel was behind me. As I pulled out of the parking spot, I thought it was a good time to pull a joke.

"Hey guys," I said "What did the half-blind ride operator say to Peter Dinklage when he tried to get on the Monkey Business teacups ride? 'Where's your dad, kid?"

Rachel kicked the back of my seat. I looked through the rear-view mirror at her, and she looked at me with a "Why did you bother?" look. I suddenly realized that that joke had _really_ bad taste and I shouldn't have even told it. Ax took notice of Rachel's mood and put his arms around her and Cassie, smiling at each of them. As I merged onto the freeway, Cassie started rubbing Jake's shoulders. We headed back to our neighborhood and admired the sunset out my window. It was a great day. (Now how often can I say that?)

**I don't know what else to say. This is essentially the end. Please comment, and drive safely.  
****_(But what about Chapter 12?)_**


	12. Epilogue

**Surprise! One last submission before this story is officially done. As a side effect, it also bumps my story to the top of the story queue. A win for you and a win for me!**

_The day after the Animorphs leave the park…_

Mr. Padrino, the Latino man with black hair and a goatee who appeared to be in his early 30s who had sold Marco his ticket, had discovered a puzzling problem. The night before, it had been his job to count the numbers on the people counters. Unfortunately, there was a discrepancy… as Mr. Padrino would soon tell his boss…

"Mr. Corcoran, may I speak with you?" he said from behind the door.

"Yes, Carlos. Please come in, I'm not busy right now," was the reply. Carlos walked in and closed the door. Mr. Corcoran was a clean-shaven man wearing a suit and tie, in his mid-40s, and a soft-spoken voice. "What did you need? The park doesn't open for another hour."

"Sir, last night when I was counting the tally counters, after I added all of the values up, there was a notable difference between the number of tickets sold and the number of people who left the park."

"And you didn't tell me then because I had left the park at that point?" Mr. Corcoran asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Well? What was the difference?"

"Sir, yesterday we sold three thousand, nine-hundred and forty-six tickets. When I added the numbers on the tally counter, it came to three thousand, nine-hundred and fifty-one."

"Carlos, a difference of five isn't going to…" he started.

"Paul?" called a female voice from Mr. Corcoran's desk intercom.

"In a minute, Barbara," he told her as he pressed down the button. "I'll be with you after Carlos is done with me." He lifted his finger off. "As I was saying, a difference of five people isn't significant enough. If that many people somehow got in for free, it's not going to have that big of an effect on The Gardens' finances. It's probably just a small error. Now, if there were a difference of a few dozen, I would be concerned."

"Yes, sir," replied Carlos.

"Now, go make sure the Welcome Booth is clean and get ready for whatever job you're posted for today," Mr. Corcoran instructed. "You're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir."

Carlos left and closed the door. Under his breath, he muttered "I just _know_ this has something to do with the Andalite Bandits…"

**Carlos Padrino and the old lady in chapter two are borrowed characters from _The Adventures of Fox Tayle_, a well-written original story on deviantART. (I reccomend reading it at wannabemustangjockey's page.) Paul Corcoran is named after my boss from when I worked at a Century/Cinemark movie theater as a usher. Marco, Jake, Cassie, Cassie's parents, Rachel, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, and Tobias are all characters created by ****Katherine Alice Applegate. Everyone else in this story is an original character. Thank you so much for faithfully reading my slightly better-than-average story! Happy Fourth of July!**


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